Potato Doughnuts, Friends, and Spring Break!

Being a teacher, I have to admit that having a Spring Break when most of the other adults in our country are working...feels quite nice! After a short trip to Arkansas to visit some of my relatives, My "Two Hot Buns" cohort came into town for some Spring Break fun...and of course we had to do some baking. Not only that, but the other musketeer to our two, the photographer, showed up at my house too!!

Anywho, while in AR, my Aunt Missy let me rummage around through some of my grandma's old church cookbooks. Here's an adaptation of a recipe I found there.

Potato Doughnuts

1/2 Tbs butter

1 C sugar

1 C mashed potatoes

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/2 C milk

2 1/2 C flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

Oil

Okay, first I should tell you that I halved the original recipe, so what you just read is HALF the original...I'd say it makes about a dozen donuts and some holes.

First, cream the butter and sugar together.

Next, add the salt, egg, and mashed potatoes. Mix well. (Side note...I cheated. I really wanted to try this recipe along with several others that night...so we made mashed potatoes using potato flakes and the stove. These worked like a charm, but you could surely mash your own boiled potatoes and use those...because I'm sure you have the time....note the sarcasm.)

After you've mixed that in, alternate the milk/baking powder mixture along with the flour until you have a sticky batter/dough. The original recipe wasn't specific about the texture of the finished product...but mine was really sticky. Flour a hard surface (and your hands) and roll that sucker out to about 1/4 inch thick. I just patted mine out and it worked. Also, I just have to say that this dough is SOOO soft...and it's really going to help make a crispy, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth work of art.

Now, use that handy dandy doughnut cutter you bought about a year ago. Oh, wait, you don't have one?? Well, just get one from Ace Mart, your neighborhood restaurant supply store open to the public! But really, if you don't want to go to all that trouble...you could use some cookie cutters or a cup or just roll them all into doughnut holes.

Now, if you're on a strict diet you might not be able to do this next step...well, let's be honest. If you're on a strict diet...you're probably not going to find this recipe useful at all. Unless, of course, you are looking for a recipe to sabotage your diet. Then, you may have come to right place!

Hey! Everything in moderation right??? Right??

Okay, heat about a bottle of oil in a deep pan. I used vegetable oil. You could use the same. Or lard. Or whatever fat you want. The recipe specifically said, "Deep fat"...mmmm! 390 degrees but I didn't really pay attention to the temperature. If it cooks too fast, just turn your heat down.

When you've tested the oil (by throwing in a little piece of dough to see if it sizzles) put in your first doughnut VERY carefully. We don't want any grease burns! We tried putting it in with chopsticks and then a metal spatula. I thought the spatula worked better.

Make sure you turn it once after it's browned on the one side. I had to flip mine several times and even put them back in the pot b/c some were a little doughy inside still. They need to be BROWN! Then, just gently pick them up with chop sticks or a metal spatula and transfer them to a cooking rack.

It helps if you've got Two Hot Buns working together!

We also made a cinnamon sugar mixture to dip some in. You know me and my cinnamon!!

And there you have it. Crispy, light, fluffy rounds of yumminess! Thanks Grandma!

Cinnamon...Again???

Yes, folks...you read that right. I have made another cinnamon concoction. Well,  actually, before I made my cinnamon sweetness...I made these...

Then...I made this...

 I sure can get a lot of baking done when I'm iced in my house for 3, going on 4, days! The top picture is a recipe for country dinner rolls that I found at the last minute for an impromptu family potluck. Did I mention I live on the same street as my brothers and sister-in-laws? It's pretty nice being able to walk to people's houses and have a nice meal and get out of the house, even in dreary weather. The second pic, I'm calling Rumbleberry Cobbler. It's a mixture of rhubarb (my fav!), blueberries, blackberries, and granny smith apples. Oh, and don't forget the cinnamon, oat topping. It's loosely based on this.

But, after all that baking, I still wasn't tired. I posted my cinnamon rolls a few days ago...and that got me thinking about my favorite spice. You guessed it...cinnamon. I saw this recipe on the pioneer woman's site, so I just had to try and figure it out for myself. So...here it is.

Cinnamon Bread

First, collect all your scrumptious ingredients: yeast, eggs, milk, butter, flour, sugar, salt....mmm, already sounds good...wait, don't forget the cinnamon! Oh, and pull them out of the fridge a few hours beforehand to get them at room temperature. ( Like my last recipe, this one is adapted for a bread machine. If you don't have one, you could just check out the Pioneer Woman's site. She's not a cheater, like me.)

Melt 3/4 cups of butter with one cup of milk. I had skim milk...and it worked just dandy.

Now, for cheaters like me...just pile everything in there. My machine calls for wet ingredients first. People, I'm tellin ya...if you don't have a bread machine..go here and find a cheap one. I'm fairly new to all this bread-baking mischief, so it's helpful. So yeah, that's the warm milk/butter mixture.

Now, add those two room-temperature eggs.

Next, it's 3 1/2 cups of bread flour.

Add 1/3 cup of sugar. (No, you're seeing that right...I almost added in WAY too much sugar! I checked the recipe again right before I added it, only to find it was 1/3 of a cup... not 1 1/3 cups. Yikes!)

Next, 1 tsp. of salt. I added a little more because my butter was unsalted. Yep, that's salt...in a syrup dispenser. You could have one too, if you married someone like thefatlete.

Lastly, 2 1/4 tsp. of Bread Machine yeast. I always get a little nervous when a recipe calls for active yeast. I have Bread Machine yeast...which from my research tells me that I need to used a little less. Not really sure if that's true or not, but I did anyway.

Okay, so then I just put it in my machine, set it to the dough cycle...and went to catch up on Facebook.

After about 1 1/2 hours, scoop it out onto the counter (floured) and roll it out into a nice rectangle. Don't make it too wide though. Also, I sprinkled on a little more flour as I rolled it. 

Mix another 1/3 cup of sugar with 2 Tbs. of cinnamon. Heaven!

Smear the other 2 Tbs. of butter over the dough. You can even melt it first, if you're feeling sassy. Then, sprinkle the mixture evenly on the dough.

Roll it up nice and tight. Or, at least tight. Mine...not so nice lookin.

Looks more like a grub worm.

Plop that little grub worm down in your well-buttered bread pan. Make sure to place him seam side down!

Okay, wait...now I'm picturing more of a caterpillar...about to become a beautiful, yummy cinnamony butterfly! Now wrap him up (in his plastic wrap cocoon) and keep him warm for about 2 hours...so he can rise! A little trick: I kept my oven at 170 then turn it off and let the bread rise in there.

Well, he rose...but not very pretty sir! Oh well. Put an egg wash on that sucker. 1 egg + smidgen of milk. Then, put him in the oven at 350 for about 30-40 min. I think it's supposed to get pretty brown.

Yea! Brown and delish!

Now, set your lovely creation out to cool. Mmm...tell your mouth to stop watering. You can wait just a few more minutes!

Now is the time...now is the best time...now is the best time of your life...Does anyone else remember that ride from Epcot? It was a ride about the future with animatronic people singing about the inventions of the future. No?? Oh well, this is still going to be the best time of your life. Okay, maybe just the best time you've had while eating cinnamon swirl bread. Ahh...the fruits of your labor. It's not perfect...but food doesn't have to look perfect. It just has to taste perfect, right? And man...this sure does taste pretty close to perfection for me!

I hope you'll try it. Or, at least come back and try something else real soon!
-Meg

Two Hot Buns Presents...

Hello there friends, family and strangers...

Welcome to Two Hot Buns. My BBF (best baking friend) Mindy and I are starting this blog to share our baking adventures and blunders with anyone who cares to listen/read/look. We'll be using this blog to share recipes and pictures with each other and you. Since we live about 350 miles away from each other, we figured this was the best way to share. Eventually, we'd like to open our own bakery. But before we do that, we need to keep practicing...so without further ado, let's get baking!

Cinnamon Buns

If you're just meeting me, you probably don't  know that cinnamon rolls are pretty much my most favorite food ever! Even when thefatlete proposed, he brought along some cinnamon rolls. How could I say no?? So, it's only appropriate that they should be our inaugural recipe. After scouting out some recipes from my favorite sites and ladies (http://www.thesmittenkitchen.com/ and http://thepioneerwoman.com/ and http://www.allrecipes.com/ ) I finally merged and adapted a few of them to make these tasty buns of bliss.

Recipe adapted from the pioneer woman and allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

2 eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup butter, unsalted

4 1/2 cups bread flour

1tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

1 cup brown sugar, packed ( I can't remember if I used dark or light...but I don't think it matters)

2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter, softened

 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened (room temp.)

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tsp of maple flavoring

1/4 cup of brewed coffee (promise, these don't taste coffeeish)

Okay, first I have to say that I kind of cheated and used my bread machine to make the dough. I don't know if that is actually cheating, but I kinda feel like it is. So, if you don't have one, you can kneed everything by hand and let it rise, or use a bread hook in a stand mixer. I'll try to give you some cues during the recipe to help with that.

1. Place the first 7 ingredients in the bread machine according your machine directions. Select the dough cycle and press start. If you don't have a machine, add the yeast to the warm milk and let set for a few minutes. Next, sift the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. In another bowl, mix all the wet ingredients. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until a dough forms. Kneed dough until everything is combined. Place in an oiled bowl and cover. Let rise until it doubles in size in a warm, dry place.

2. After the dough has doubled in size, let it rest on a lightly floured surface for about 10 min. Make sure that you'll have enough room to roll it out into a huge rectangle a little later. While it's resting, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Yum!  It makes a crazy strong filling. You'll feel like you are putting in loads of cinnamon. Don't worry, you are. But, when combined with the dough...soooo good!

3. Next, roll out the dough into a huge rectangle that is as even as you can get it. I went ahead and melted the butter (it was easier than spreading it)  and poured it onto the dough. Next, sprinkle the filling evenly over the dough.

4. Start at the end that is farthest away from you and roll into one long nice cinnamon rope. It's almost like in those old cartoons when they eat corn on the cob. They chomp all the way down the row of corn like a typewriter. That's how you should roll it. Roll pretty tightly and don't worry if stuff oozes out of the sides. Pinch the end together when you're done. You're getting closer to bun bliss!

5. Cut the dough into even rounds. The ends obviously will be smaller. (I put those in a ramekins and made little cinnamon roll blossoms...awesome! See picture above) To cut, I think I used a straight-edge knife, but sawed it gently back and forth so as not to damage the rolls. It worked perfectly!

6. Place the rolls in a lightly greased pan. I actually used a jelly roll pan and it worked like a charm. A glass or metal 9x13 would work too. Cover and let rise one more time. (You can do it!) They may not rise that much, but that's okay. Let them rise for about 30 min. Set the oven to 350 while they're rising.

7. Place the rolls in the oven and bake anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. I'm giving a ranger here, because I baked mine on 400 and it was too high. Just make sure they are lightly brown before you take them out. As much as you love gooey cinnamon rolls, let them get a little brown. If they are undercooked, they just aren't good.

8. While they're baking, and the aroma of perfection is filling your house, beat together the last seven ingredients. Make sure the cream cheese and the butter are at room temperature. Mine were cold and the icing had little flecks of cream cheese in it. I put it in the microwave for a minute or so to cure it.

9. Finally, when the buns are done...take them out and immediately  flip them onto a cooling rack. I skipped this at first and then realized that the filling was kinda running out of the buns...This will help keep it all in. My picture looks a little off because I had already frosted them when I realized the possible dilemma. So, then I had to flip them, hence the cooling rack lines on my finished product. After a few minutes pour that frosting all over them. I'm not a huge frosting fan...but just pour it. You'll thank me later.

Now, enjoy the wonderful buns...rolls...who the hell cares what you call them...they're awesome!

Notes: I think this made about 16 big rolls for me, but it depends on how big you cut them. Also, I'd like to note that I used organic ingredients where I could. (organic raw sugar, organic milk, ogranic flour, organic butter, etc.). Makes me feel like, "Hey, at least I'm eating REAL food..." right? right?

Alright, there it is folks. Our first recipe on Two Hot Buns. Hope you enjoyed it. Hope you try it. Hope you come back real soon.

Meg